The
bottom line with this research is finding out if Hometown News has effective
reach and whether it serves the best interests of the soldiers, sailors,
airmen, and marines who are featured. Can Hometown News set the agenda
with its product? Can Hometown News make the military organizational identity
more salient externally, and reinforce it internally? Can Hometown News
make gatekeepers excited to receive military products? Research is the
best way to determine this. Through internal and external surveys Hometown
News be extremely confident that it is increasing awareness and fostering
acceptance as stated in the Hometown news mission objectives (AFPD 35-1).

With the current connectivity crisis between the military and the civilian
population, Hometown News has the distinct ability to bridge the gaps
and bring the military story to the homes of any and every American who
is interested in what the military does for the nation. To do this we
first must establish that we have effective reach. From there the possibilities
are endless. Hometown News in conjunction with the four service Public
affairs components could institute a campaign for recruits and supporters
using mass media. Ideas like the current on-line Army of One video game
could be broadened to include real life games such as extreme sports.
Or what about exploiting the technology boom in the United States? Showing
military people working in exciting technical fields, creating interactive
games and contacts within civilian population that could last forever.

Spanning the gap between the military and the general civilian population
is critical on many levels. It is critical in understanding the history
of the United States as well as looking at the world as it is today, and
what the future may hold. Without the proper grounding knowledge of what
the military does, the general civilian population moves further and further
away from understanding the important role the military plays in the strength
of this nation. The general population sees troop deployments, fighter
jets, and ships at sea but do they really know the people who make those
missions and machines go? Hometown News, along with the service's public
affairs arm has the ability to bring the stories of "Joe Airman"
or "Sally Marine" to the living rooms, radios, and newspapers
of every taxpaying American. Will that make military issues more salient
to "Joe Civilian?" Yes. Because it personalizes the steel, ammo,
and jet engines with a face, a name, and a message: We are here to fight
and protect you.

That is a big picture hope but with a solid plan, grounded research, and
the willingness to connect military public affairs as a whole can create
awareness and salience of military issues to the general population. Detailed
research and analysis of military information campaigns and design needs
to be looked at and this research is just a beginning. Through Hometown
News the military already reaches millions each year, but is that reach
effective? This research will hopefully help Hometown News maximize its
efforts in telling the general population of what we do (military), how
we do it, and why.

Projected
Results (Internal Survey)
Many factors could influence responses to this survey including: operational
climate and tempo; communication assets available to the serviceperson
in their current environment; closeness to family members or friends back
home and the length of the current separation. The operational climate,
especially if the unit is encountering or is expected to encounter enemy
action, will impact the servicepersons' morale greatly. If during a time
of conflict and means of communication are limited or restricted, this
effort may have a more positive affect. If loved ones can see that a serviceperson
is alive and well when other means are limited, it can be a relief and
morale booster to the warrior in the field. The timeline of the operation
or deployment may also impact the positive affects. During the early stages,
there is normally a substantial amount of confusion and a heavy operational
tempo to get established in the particular operational area. As this early
stage diminishes, often loneliness has the opportunity to settle in on
many servicepersons, resulting in them being more likely to participate
in the program and reflect positive affects from it.

Results from the internal survey may prove modest. America's military
personnel are professionals and are focused on accomplishing their mission
in demanding, uncomfortable conditions, oftentimes miles from home. Morale
in this environment is often based on accomplishing the mission as quickly
as possible and returning home. The fact that a radio, television or print
segment ran back in the U.S., may have little, if any affect on the servicepersons
morale while he's serving there. The most residual benefit, even to the
forward-deployed warrior, would be for the servicepersons' family. With
an all volunteer force serving in harms way, the potential to greatly
affect today's military personnel's amount of pride based on this program
may also be limited. This is further amplified because most times, if
someone in the servicepersons' family doesn't record or clip the segment,
he or she never sees it.

Projected Results (External Survey)
In the test market study, we project a measurable difference between the
two cities. According to agenda-setting theory, the increased exposure
to military stories, in the city with media outlets that use Hometown
News products, would cause military issues to become more salient to people
there. People in that city would be more aware of military issues and
that is one of the program's goals. The effect on the goal of informing
Americans would be harder to predict. While we project the Hometown News
program will be effective in making people more aware of military issues,
the size of that effect is even more important. The gain in effective
reach may not be large enough to justify the expense of the program, or
the gain may so clear that an increase in the size and scope of the Hometown
News program may be in order.

We project the size of the effect to be less than would be achieved with
a coordinated advertising program. An advertising program would have the
advantage of a message specifically designed to achieve a desired effect
without the need to be attractive to gatekeepers. Hometown News stories
must stay in line with accepted news parameters and attract the attention
of gatekeepers to be aired or published. The effect of Hometown News products
should however, be better than a typical public service announcement.
Because they are presented as news, Hometown News stories would be more
credible than sponsored ads. News products are also more likely to be
aired at a better time or receive a better spot in a newspaper than an
unpaid public service announcement.